Viking Skull-Doom, gloom, heartache and whiskey

Powerage
2008

Viking Skull have been in existence for around five years and they have a few releases out. I love the band name and this album title plus the combination had me thinking this was going to be rough and aggressive punch in the face style of album. Unfortunately it's not that powerful so it's more like a slightly hard punch to the shoulder I guess as they hit some, but it's off target as well. The press release says they draw deeply on a mix of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, WASP, Motorhead, The Who, KISS and Thin Lizzy. These releases normally exaggerate a little and this one is no exception as the only one of the above that can be heard much is Black Sabbath. It would be far more surprising if a doom/stoner act didn't have a heavy Sabbath influence. Viking Skull try at times to march in the battle, but they tend to bogged down by too many layers of repetition. That can work to some extent, but grabbing one riff holding on for the duration seems to always be Plan A for these guys and I am sure that they really have a Plan B. They remind me of Sabbath bloody sabbath era Black Sabbath as interpreted by Fireball Ministry only with a less keen sense of timing. I get the impression that this band might do very well live though. The ideas are not exactly flowing like wine here, but they do seem excited enough at times and they can some good hooks on occasion. The new Viking Skull isn't going to bowl anyone over, but it's a worth listen and I might pull it out every once in a while and give it a spin.